Control of multi-user multiple input multiple output connections

ABSTRACT

Apparatuses and methods in a communication system are provided. A method comprises receiving from network instructions of how to control multi-user multiple input multiple output connections maintained by one or more radio access nodes, the connections utilising one or more slices. One or more radio access nodes perform, based at least in part on the received network instructions, multi-user pairing of terminal devices of the same or different slices, and determine, based at least in part on the received network instructions, slice-based quota taking multi-user pairing and interference arising from paired allocations into account.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a U.S. divisional patent application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 17/883,952, filed on Aug. 9, 2022, which claims thebenefit of priority to Finnish Patent Application No. 20215846, filed onAug. 11, 2021. The contents of the prior applications are herebyincorporated by reference in their entireties.

FIELD

The exemplary and non-limiting embodiments of the invention relategenerally to wireless communication systems. The exemplary andnon-limiting embodiments of the invention relate especially toapparatuses and methods in wireless communication networks.

BACKGROUND

In wireless telecommunication systems there is a constant need forhigher data rates and high quality of service. Reliability requirementsare constantly rising and ways and means to ensure reliable connectionsand data traffic while keeping transmission delays minimal areconstantly under development.

Developing networks enable new services to customers. One suggestedservice is network slicing, which enables offering connectivity, qualityof service and data processing solutions tailored to specific customers'requirements. A network slice is a logical end-to-end virtual networkthat can be dynamically created and that provides specific capabilitiesand characteristics. Multiple network slices may be created on top of acommon shared physical network infrastructure to run services that mayhave different requirements on latency, reliability, throughput, andmobility.

Another proposed technology is Multi-User Multiple Input MultipleOutput, MU-MIMO, technology. In MU-MIMO spatially distributed users mayshare the same network resources simultaneously.

Combination of radio access network slices and MU-MIMO presents somechallenges related to resources used and how users may be paired.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary of the invention in order toprovide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. Thissummary is not an extensive overview of the invention. It is notintended to identify key/critical elements of the invention or todelineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to presentsome concepts of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to amore detailed description that is presented later.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there are providedapparatuses of claims 1 and 8.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there are providedmethods of claims 12 and 17.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there are providedcomputer programs comprising instructions of claims 19 and 20.

One or more examples of implementations are set forth in more detail inthe accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features willbe apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims. Theembodiments and/or examples and features, if any, described in thisspecification that do not fall under the scope of the independent claimsare to be interpreted as examples useful for understanding variousembodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention are described below, by way ofexample only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a simplified system architecture of acommunication system;

FIGS. 2A, 2B and 3 are flowcharts illustrating embodiments of theinvention;

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate examples of some embodiments;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of slot-wise operation in someembodiments;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of operation of an gNB in someembodiments;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment and

FIGS. 8, 9A and 9B illustrate simplified examples of apparatusesapplying some embodiments of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SOME EMBODIMENTS

The following embodiments are only examples. Although the specificationmay refer to “an”, “one”, or “some” embodiment(s) in several locations,this does not necessarily mean that each such reference is to the sameembodiment(s), or that the feature only applies to a single embodiment.Single features of different embodiments may also be combined to provideother embodiments. Furthermore, words “comprising” and “including”should be understood as not limiting the described embodiments toconsist of only those features that have been mentioned and suchembodiments may also contain features, structures, units, modules etc.that have not been specifically mentioned.

Some embodiments of the present invention are applicable to acommunication device, a network element of a communication system, adistributed realisation of a network element, a base station, eNodeB,gNodeB, a distributed realisation of a base station, a correspondingcomponent, and/or to any communication system or any combination ofdifferent communication systems that support required functionality.

The protocols used, the specifications of communication systems, serversand user equipment, especially in wireless communication, developrapidly. Such development may require extra changes to an embodiment.Therefore, all words and expressions should be interpreted broadly andthey are intended to illustrate, not to restrict, embodiments.

In the following, different exemplifying embodiments will be describedusing, as an example of an access architecture to which the embodimentsmay be applied, a radio access architecture based on long term evolutionadvanced (LTE Advanced, LTE-A) or new radio (NR, 5G), withoutrestricting the embodiments to such an architecture, however. Theembodiments may also be applied to other kinds of communicationsnetworks having suitable means by adjusting parameters and proceduresappropriately. Some examples of other options for suitable systems arethe universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) radio accessnetwork (UTRAN), wireless local area network (WLAN or WiFi), worldwideinteroperability for microwave access (WiMAX), Bluetooth®, personalcommunications services (PCS), ZigBee®, wideband code division multipleaccess (WCDMA), systems using ultra-wideband (UWB) technology, sensornetworks, mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs) and Internet Protocolmultimedia subsystems (IMS) or any combination thereof.

FIG. 1 depicts examples of simplified system architectures only showingsome elements and functional entities, all being logical units, whoseimplementation may differ from what is shown. The connections shown inFIG. 1 are logical connections; the actual physical connections may bedifferent. It is apparent to a person skilled in the art that the systemtypically comprises also other functions and structures than those shownin FIG. 1 .

The embodiments are not, however, restricted to the system given as anexample but a person skilled in the art may apply the solution to othercommunication systems provided with necessary properties.

The example of FIG. 1 shows a part of an exemplifying radio accessnetwork.

FIG. 1 shows devices 100 and 102. The devices 100 and 102 may, forexample, be user devices or user terminals. The devices 100 and 102 areconfigured to be in a wireless connection on one or more communicationchannels with a node 104. The node 104 is further connected to a corenetwork 106. In one example, the node 104 may be an access node such as(e/g)NodeB providing or serving devices in a cell. In one example, thenode 104 may be a non-3GPP access node. The physical link from a deviceto a (e/g)NodeB is called uplink or reverse link and the physical linkfrom the (e/g)NodeB to the device is called downlink or forward link. Itshould be appreciated that (e/g)NodeBs or their functionalities may beimplemented by using any node, host, server or access point etc. entitysuitable for such a usage.

A communications system typically comprises more than one (e/g)NodeB inwhich case the (e/g)NodeBs may also be configured to communicate withone another over links, wired or wireless, designed for the purpose.These links may be used for signalling purposes. The (e/g)NodeB is acomputing device configured to control the radio resources ofcommunication system it is coupled to. The NodeB may also be referred toas a base station, an access point or any other type of interfacingdevice including a relay station capable of operating in a wirelessenvironment. The (e/g)NodeB includes or is coupled to transceivers. Fromthe transceivers of the (e/g)NodeB, a connection is provided to anantenna unit that establishes bi-directional radio links to devices. Theantenna unit may comprise a plurality of antennas or antenna elements.The (e/g)NodeB is further connected to the core network 106 (CN or nextgeneration core NGC). Depending on the system, the counterpart on the CNside can be a serving gateway (S-GW, routing and forwarding user datapackets), packet data network gateway (P-GW), for providing connectivityof devices (UEs) to external packet data networks, or mobile managemententity (MME), etc.

The device (also called a subscriber unit, user device, user equipment(UE), user terminal, terminal device, etc.) illustrates one type of anapparatus to which resources on the air interface are allocated andassigned, and thus any feature described herein with a device may beimplemented with a corresponding apparatus, such as a relay node. Anexample of such a relay node is a layer 3 relay (self-backhauling relay)towards the base station.

The device typically refers to a device (e.g. a portable or non-portablecomputing device) that includes wireless mobile communication devicesoperating with or without an universal subscriber identification module(USIM), including, but not limited to, the following types of devices: amobile station (mobile phone), smartphone, personal digital assistant(PDA), handset, device using a wireless modem (alarm or measurementdevice, etc.), laptop and/or touch screen computer, tablet, gameconsole, notebook, and multimedia device. It should be appreciated thata device may also be a nearly exclusive uplink only device, of which anexample is a camera or video camera loading images or video clips to anetwork. A device may also be a device having capability to operate inInternet of Things (IoT) network which is a scenario in which objectsare provided with the ability to transfer data over a network withoutrequiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction, e.g. to beused in smart power grids and connected vehicles. The device may alsoutilise cloud. In some applications, a device may comprise a userportable device with radio parts (such as a watch, earphones oreyeglasses) and the computation is carried out in the cloud. The device(or in some embodiments a layer 3 relay node) is configured to performone or more of user equipment functionalities.

Various techniques described herein may also be applied to acyber-physical system (CPS) (a system of collaborating computationalelements controlling physical entities). CPS may enable theimplementation and exploitation of massive amounts of interconnectedinformation and communications technology, ICT, devices (sensors,actuators, processors microcontrollers, etc.) embedded in physicalobjects at different locations. Mobile cyber physical systems, in whichthe physical system in question has inherent mobility, are a subcategoryof cyber-physical systems. Examples of mobile physical systems includemobile robotics and electronics transported by humans or animals.

Additionally, although the apparatuses have been depicted as singleentities, different units, processors and/or memory units (not all shownin FIG. 1 ) may be implemented.

5G enables using multiple input-multiple output (MIMO) antennas, manymore base stations or nodes than the LTE (a so-called small cellconcept), including macro sites operating in co-operation with smallerstations and employing a variety of radio technologies depending onservice needs, use cases and/or spectrum available. 5G mobilecommunications supports a wide range of use cases and relatedapplications including video streaming, augmented reality, differentways of data sharing and various forms of machine type applications(such as (massive) machine-type communications (mMTC), includingvehicular safety, different sensors and real-time control. 5G isexpected to have multiple radio frequencies, namely below 6 GHz, cmWaveand mmWave, and also being integrable with existing legacy radio accesstechnologies, such as the LTE. Integration with the LTE may beimplemented, at least in the early phase, as a system, where macrocoverage is provided by the LTE and 5G radio interface access comes fromsmall cells by aggregation to the LTE. In other words, 5G is planned tosupport both inter-RAT operability (such as LTE-5G) and inter-RIoperability (inter-radio interface operability, such as below 6GHz-cmWave, below 6 GHz-cmWave-mmWave). One of the concepts consideredto be used in 5G networks is network slicing in which multipleindependent and dedicated virtual sub-networks (network instances) maybe created within the same infrastructure to run services that havedifferent requirements on latency, reliability, throughput and mobility.

The current architecture in LTE networks is fully distributed in theradio and fully centralized in the core network. The low latencyapplications and services in 5G require to bring the content close tothe radio which leads to local break out and multi-access edge computing(MEC). 5G enables analytics and knowledge generation to occur at thesource of the data. This approach requires leveraging resources that maynot be continuously connected to a network such as laptops, smartphones,tablets and sensors. MEC provides a distributed computing environmentfor application and service hosting. It also has the ability to storeand process content in close proximity to cellular subscribers forfaster response time. Edge computing covers a wide range of technologiessuch as wireless sensor networks, mobile data acquisition, mobilesignature analysis, cooperative distributed peer-to-peer ad hocnetworking and processing also classifiable as local cloud/fog computingand grid/mesh computing, dew computing, mobile edge computing, cloudlet,distributed data storage and retrieval, autonomic self-healing networks,remote cloud services, augmented and virtual reality, data caching,Internet of Things (massive connectivity and/or latency critical),critical communications (autonomous vehicles, traffic safety, real-timeanalytics, time-critical control, healthcare applications).

The communication system is also able to communicate with othernetworks, such as a public switched telephone network or the Internet112, or utilize services provided by them. The communication network mayalso be able to support the usage of cloud services, for example atleast part of core network operations may be carried out as a cloudservice (this is depicted in FIG. 1 by “cloud” 114). The communicationsystem may also comprise a central control entity, or a like, providingfacilities for networks of different operators to cooperate for examplein spectrum sharing.

The technology of Edge cloud may be brought into a radio access network(RAN) by utilizing network function virtualization (NFV) and softwaredefined networking (SDN). Using the technology of edge cloud may meanaccess node operations to be carried out, at least partly, in a server,host or node operationally coupled to a remote radio head or basestation comprising radio parts. It is also possible that node operationswill be distributed among a plurality of servers, nodes or hosts.Application of cloudRAN architecture enables RAN real time functionsbeing carried out at the RAN side (in a distributed unit, DU 104) andnon-real time functions being carried out in a centralized manner (in acentralized unit, CU 108).

It should also be understood that the distribution of labour betweencore network operations and base station operations may differ from thatof the LTE or even be non-existent. Some other technology advancementsprobably to be used are Big Data and all-IP, which may change the waynetworks are being constructed and managed. 5G (or new radio, NR)networks are being designed to support multiple hierarchies, where MECservers can be placed between the core and the base station or nodeB(gNB). It should be appreciated that MEC can be applied in 4G networksas well.

5G may also utilize satellite communication to enhance or complement thecoverage of 5G service, for example by providing backhauling. Possibleuse cases are providing service continuity for machine-to-machine (M2M)or Internet of Things (IoT) devices or for passengers on board ofvehicles, or ensuring service availability for critical communications,and future railway/maritime/aeronautical communications. Satellitecommunication may utilise geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellitesystems, but also low earth orbit (LEO) satellite systems, in particularmega-constellations (systems in which hundreds of (nano)satellites aredeployed). A satellite 110 in the mega-constellation may cover severalsatellite-enabled network entities that create on-ground cells. Theon-ground cells may be created through an on-ground relay node 104 or bya gNB located on-ground or in a satellite.

It is obvious for a person skilled in the art that the depicted systemis only an example of a part of a radio access system and in practice,the system may comprise a plurality of (e/g)NodeBs, the device may havean access to a plurality of radio cells and the system may comprise alsoother apparatuses, such as physical layer relay nodes or other networkelements, etc. At least one of the (e/g)NodeBs or may be aHome(e/g)nodeB. Additionally, in a geographical area of a radiocommunication system a plurality of different kinds of radio cells aswell as a plurality of radio cells may be provided. Radio cells may bemacro cells (or umbrella cells) which are large cells, usually having adiameter of up to tens of kilometers, or smaller cells such as micro-,femto- or picocells. The (e/g)NodeBs of FIG. 1 may provide any kind ofthese cells. A cellular radio system may be implemented as a multilayernetwork including several kinds of cells. Typically, in multilayernetworks, one access node provides one kind of a cell or cells, and thusa plurality of (e/g)NodeBs are required to provide such a networkstructure.

For fulfilling the need for improving the deployment and performance ofcommunication systems, the concept of “plug-and-play” (e/g)NodeBs hasbeen introduced. Typically, a network which is able to use“plug-and-play” (e/g)Node Bs, includes, in addition to Home (e/g)NodeBs(H(e/g)nodeBs), a home node B gateway, or HNB-GW (not shown in FIG. 1 ).An HNB Gateway (HNB-GW), which is typically installed within anoperator's network may aggregate traffic from a large number of HNBsback to a core network.

As mentioned, network slicing is a concept where network resources of anend-to-end connection between a user terminal and another end point in apublic land mobile network (PLMN) are sliced. Similar network slicingmay be employed also in private networks. A network slice may beunderstood as a logical end-to-end network that can be dynamicallycreated and/or modified. The network(s) between the end devices may allbe sliced from one end device to the other end device, the slices thusforming logical pipelines within the network(s). User terminal mayaccess a slice over a radio interface. A pipeline/slice may serve aparticular service type. So far, three different network slice/servicetypes have been standardized: eMBB (slice suitable for the handling of5G enhanced Mobile Broadband), URLLC (slice suitable for the handling ofultra-reliable low latency communications) and MIoT (slice suitable forthe handling of massive Internet of Things). Communications ServiceProviders (CSPs) are able to define additional network slice/servicetypes if needed. A given user terminal may access to multiple slicesover the same Access Network (over the same radio interface, forexample).

Thus, network slicing enables a communications service provider toprovide dedicated virtual networks over a common network infrastructure.The different virtual or logical networks may be designed to providedifferent networking characteristics such as different qualities ofservice, QoS, in order to host services with diverse requirements andservice level agreements, SLAs. For example, the virtual networks may becustomized to meet specific needs of various applications, services,devices, customers and/or operators.

As mentioned, MU-MIMO technology allows spatially distributed users toshare the same network resources, simultaneously, using MU pairing. InMU-MIMO, radio access node may transmit multiple data streams, one foreach terminal device, using the same time-frequency resources.

MU-MIMO and slicing may be used simultaneously. The radio access nodemay utilise more than one slices, where each slice serves a number ofterminal devices. Resource quotas per-slice can be defined in terms ofPhysical Resource Block, PRBs. When MU-MIMO is used, the same PRBresource can be assigned or reused to multiple terminal devices. Theterminal devices may belong to the same slice or to different slices.Using slicing and MU-MIMO together provides many advantages but alsosome challenges. An advantage is an increase the total cell throughput,i.e. cell capacity.

Resource quotas for different slices may be defined in terms of PhysicalResource Blocks, PRBs. In MU-MIMO, multiple terminal devices maytransmit using the same PRB at the same time. As the PRBs may beallocated to terminal devices of the same slice or devices of differentslices, this makes it difficult to determine whether a given PRB affectsquota of a given slice.

The multiple terminal devices utilising a given PRB in a slot usedifferent beams transmitted by the radio access node. However, typicallybeams are not completely orthogonal, and thus some interference may bepresent. The interference from other terminal devices utilising the sameresources may vary slot by slot and cause uncertainty in the Quality ofService, QoS, experienced by the terminal devices.

Further, as terminal devices of different slices may be allocated thesame resources, and this may vary slot by slot. This variability maycause uncertainly in the performance of a slice.

An embodiment provides an apparatus configured to perform preferentialMU-pairing and provider solution to efficient usage of resources basedon the network conditions at any point in time.

The flowchart of FIG. 2A illustrates an embodiment. The flowchartillustrates an example of the operation of a network apparatus orentity. The network apparatus or entity may comprise one or more networkelements and it may be denoted as MU-aware Slice Policy Controller orMUSPC. In an embodiment, the MUSPC may be located at RAN IntelligentController, RIC, or Operations, Administration and Maintenance, OAM, ofthe communication network. In an embodiment, the MUSPC may be located ate RAN node, gNB.

In step 200, the apparatus is configured to receive from networkinstructions of how to control multi-user multiple input multiple outputconnections maintained by one or more radio access nodes, theconnections utilising one or more slices.

In step 202, the apparatus is configured to control one or more radioaccess nodes to perform, based at least in part on the received networkinstructions, multi-user pairing of terminal devices of the same ordifferent slices.

In step 204, the apparatus is configured to control one or more radioaccess nodes determine, based at least in part on the received networkinstructions, slice-based quota taking multi-user pairing andinterference arising from paired allocations into account.

The flowchart of FIG. 2B illustrates an embodiment. The flowchartillustrates an example of the operation of the MU-aware Slice PolicyController or MUSPC in some more detail.

In step 220, the apparatus is configured to determine and indicate,based on the received instructions, to one or more radio access nodes arelative preference for preferring or avoiding multi-user multiple inputmultiple output pairing users of a given slice with users of the sameslice, or users of a different slice. The relative preference ofmulti-user pairing terminal devices of a given slice with terminaldevices of the same slice or terminal device of different slices may bedetermined and indicated.

In step 222, the apparatus is configured to determine and indicate,based on the received instructions, to one or more radio access nodes arelative preference on how to perform counting of resources consumed bya slice compared to its slice quota when resources have been allocatedin multi-user multiple input multiple output pairing fashion to multipleusers of one or more slices in a slot. The relative preference of howmulti-user resources of multiple input multiple output pairing are to betaken into account in determining slice-based quota may be determinedand indicated.

In step 224, the apparatus is configured to determine and indicate,based on the received instructions, to one or more radio access nodes arelative preference on how to adjust the resources consumed by variousslices taking into account the effect of interference between usersbelonging to the same slice or different slices that have been givenmulti-user multiple input multiple output paired allocations. Therelative preference of whether interference arising from multi-usermultiple input multiple output paired allocations are taken into accountin determining slice-based quota may be determined and indicated.

The flowchart of FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment. The flowchartillustrates an example of the operation of a network apparatus orentity. The network apparatus or entity may comprise one or more networkelements. In an embodiment, the apparatus is a radio access node, suchas gNB or a part of an gNB.

In step 300, the apparatus is configured to receive, from a networkapparatus, instructions of how to control multi-user multiple inputmultiple output connections maintained by the apparatus, the connectionsutilising one or more slices.

In step 302, the apparatus is configured to determine, based on thereceived instructions, a first adjustment factor indicating how toperform multi-user pairing for terminal devices from a same of differentslice.

In step 304, the apparatus is configured to determine, based on thefirst adjustment factor and a slice prioritization weight, multi-userpairing and resource allocation for terminal devices.

In step 306, the apparatus is configured to determine, based on thereceived instructions, a second adjustment factor to resources countedas consumed by a slice, the factor indicating how to take interferencebetween terminal devices into account.

In step 308, the apparatus is configured to determine, based on thereceived instructions and the second adjustment factor, a thirdadjustment factor indicating how to count resources towards slice quota.

In step 310, the apparatus is configured to determine the number ofresources consumed by a slice based on the number of allocated resourcesand second and third adjustment factors.

In step 312, the apparatus is configured to determine, based on thedetermined number of resources, slice prioritization weight to be usedin subsequent pairing and resource determination.

In step 314, the apparatus is configured to determine and transmit areport to network regarding pairing, resources and interference.

FIG. 4A illustrates an example overview of a communication system wherethe MUSPC apparatus of FIGS. 2A-2B is located at RAN IntelligentController, RIC.

The system comprises a network element 400 such as an Operator NetworkManagement System, ONAP, or a tenant portal.

The network element 400 communicates with a RAN Intelligent Controller,RIC, 402 or Operations, Administration and Maintenance, OAM, of thecommunication network.

In an embodiment, RIC 402 provides an open platform architecture basedon open application programming interfaces, APIs, that allows RANoptimization algorithms to be hosted on it. In RIC, radio resourcemanagement or optimization algorithms may be realised as services on topof an underlying controller platform 404. The controller platform canprovide the ability to interface with radio access network for receivinginformation from the radio access network as well as communicatinginformation or control actions to the radio access network.

In an embodiment, the RIC or OAM 402 comprises MU-aware Slice PolicyController or MUSPC 406. The MUSPC 406 may be a service or a module thatis instantiated on the controller platform 404 as part of the RIC, forexample. MUSPC 406 can communicate with gNBs 408 of the network via E2interface 420. MUSPC 406 may also have a northbound interface that canbe supported over the A1 northbound interface 418 of the RIC towards anorthbound system such as ONAP or RIC-non-real-time or Operator networkmanagement system or Tenant Portal 400.

In an embodiment, the gNB 408 comprises a Control Unit 410 for ControlPlane, CU-CP, and a Control Unit 412 for User Plane, CU-UP. The gNB 410may further comprise a distributed unit, DU, 414 and a remote unit, RU,416.

FIG. 4B illustrates an example overview of a communication system wherethe MUSPC apparatus of FIGS. 2A-2B is located at the Control Unit 410for Control Plane, CU-CP of gNB 402, in either a cloud RAN architectureor a classical gNB architecture.

In an embodiment, MUSPC is configured to receive policy instructionsfrom the network and, based on the instructions, determine and

MUSPC determines a command to send to gNB (based on policy instructionsfrom northbound API) containing policy descriptors for one or more slicefor one or more of the following preference indicators and sends thecommand to the gNb.

In an embodiment, MUSPC receives from the network 400, such as anOperator Network Management System, ONAP, or a tenant portal, policyinstructions regarding multi-user multiple input multiple output pairedallocations.

In an embodiment, the MUSPC receives a preference for MU-pairing usersof a given slice with users of the same slice, or users of a differentslices.

In an embodiment, MUSPC is configured to, based on the instructions,determine and transmit to one or more RAN nodes a first preferenceindicator. The first preference indicator indicates a relativepreference for preferring (or avoiding) MU-MIMO-pairing users of a givenslice with users of the same slice, or users of a different slices.

In an embodiment, the first preference indicator may have a numericalvalue between a first value indicating that a radio access node shouldavoid Mu-pairing users of the same slice and a second value indicatingthat a radio access node should only pair users of the same slice.

For example, the numerical value may be between 0 and 1, where

-   -   0 indicates that gNB should avoid Mu-pairing users of the same        slice (pairing is allowed only for users of different slices),    -   1 indicates that gNB should only pair users of the same slice        (pairing of users of different slices is prevented),    -   values between 0 and 1 indicate a gradual preference for pairing        users of the same slice or pairing users of different slices.

Alternatively, the numerical value may obtain values {High, Medium, Low}where

-   -   High indicates gNB should avoid Mu-pairing users of the same        slice (only allow pairing users of different slices)    -   Low indicates gNB should only pair users of the same slice        (prevent pairing users of different slices), and    -   Medium indicates no strong preference either towards users of        the same slice or users of different slices.

In an embodiment, the MUSPC receives a preference of howMU-MIMO-pairing-allocated resources should count towards slice quota.

In an embodiment, MUSPC is configured to, based on the instructions,determine and transmit to one or more RAN nodes a second preferenceindicator. The second preference indicator indicates a manner ofcounting resources consumed by a slice compared to its slice quota whenresources have been allocated in MU-MIMO-pairing fashion to multipleusers of one or more slices in a slot.

In an embodiment, if it is determined that a given number N terminaldevices of a slice are allocated the same set P of resource blocks,PRBs, in a given slot, where N is greater than one, the secondpreference indicator may take three values {A, B, C}, where: if N>1users of the same slice are allocated the same set of P PRBs,

-   -   first value A indicates that each of the users should be treated        as having consumed all of the resources. Thus, the slice should        be treated as having consumed N*P PRBs in that slot, for the        purposes of comparing with its quota,    -   second value B indicates that slice should be treated as having        consumed only P PRBs, regardless of N, and    -   third value C indicates that if the number of terminal devices N        is greater or equal to two, the slice should be treated as        having consumed P*2 PRBs, otherwise, P PRBs.

In an embodiment, the MUSPC receives a preference of whether slicesshould be given credit towards quota based on interference arising fromMU-MIMO-paired allocations.

In an embodiment, MUSPC is configured to, based on the instructions,determine and transmit to one or more RAN nodes a third preferenceindicator. The third preference indicator indicates a manner ofadjusting the resources consumed by various slices taking into accountthe effect of interference between users (belonging to the same slice ordifferent slices) that have been given MU-MIMO-paired allocations.

In an embodiment, the first preference indicator may have three values{X, Y, Z}. Assume here that P resource blocks, PRBs, have beenallocated.

The first value X indicates that effect of interference between terminaldevices is ignored, and any individual terminal device is treated ashaving consumed all allocated P resource blocks. Further, the secondpreference Indicator may be applied for determining the resourceconsumption of the slice.

The second value Y indicates that if a given terminal device gets apaired allocation on a certain number of resources, then the terminaldevice is treated as having consumed a reduced number of resources basedon the reduction in spectral efficiency that the terminal device wouldexperience due to interference. Further, the second preference Indicatormay be applied for determining the resource consumption of the slice.

The third value Z indicates that the rule of first value X is applied ifall users are of the same slice, whereas the rule of second value Y isapplied if the users are of different slices.

In an embodiment, the above first, second and third preferenceindicators may be communicated on a per-slice basis, or as a commonvalue applicable to more than slices.

In gNBs, a layer 2 packet scheduler, L2-PS, is responsible forscheduling users to transmit/receive data. A per-slot operation of theL2-PS may be described as

-   -   1) Select subset of eligible users for various slices    -   2) Perform MU-pairing decision and PRB allocation    -   3) Update Slice resource consumption    -   A slot-wise operation of gNB L2-PS is illustrated in FIG. 5 .

In step 500, the gNB L2-PS is configured to determined adjustedprioritization weights (described below), based on adjusted per-sliceresource consumption relative to slice-quota.

First adjustment factor is determined in step 502. The first adjustmentfactor indicates to prefer or avoid MU-pairing of users based on thefirst preference Indicator, as in following:

-   -   a) prefer or avoid pairing users from the same slice    -   b) prefer or avoid pairing users from different slices    -   c) a combination of above choices.

The adjusted prioritization weight and the first adjustment factor isused in steps 504 and 506 in determining the pairing of users andresource allocation for MU-MIMO transmission.

Consider an example: Assume that the first preference indicator has anumeric value between 0 and 1:

If the first preference indicator is 0: During MU-pairing, whenconsidering whether to pair a given user with a currently selected setof users, if the current set of so-far-selected users includes any usersof the same slice as the user under consideration, then the firstadjustment factor value is set to 0, otherwise the first adjustmentfactor value is set to 1.

If the first preference indicator is 1: During MU-pairing, whenconsidering whether to pair a given user with a currently selected setof users, if the current set of so-far-selected users includes any usersof a different slice from the user under consideration, then firstadjustment factor value is set to 0, otherwise the first adjustmentfactor value is set to 1.

If first preference indicator is a value between 0 and 1: DuringMU-pairing, when considering whether to pair a given user with acurrently selected set of users, the first adjustment factor is set to avalue of (first preference indicator)*(N_(other))/(N), whereN_(other)=number of users in the so-far-selected users set belonging toa different slice than the user under consideration, and N equals tototal number of users in the so-far-selected users set.

During MU-pairing, once the first adjustment factor is determined, theslice prioritization weight of the user is then multiplied by the firstadjustment factor, and MU-pairing algorithm proceeds considering thismodified weight.

The gNB L2-PS is configured to determine a second adjustment factor,based on third preference indicator, which indicates the manner oftaking into account the effect of interference between users (belongingto the same slice or different slices) are given MU-MIMO-pairedallocations. Typically, this second adjustment factor is set per user.

Consider an example. Assume the third preference indicator takes a valuefrom {X,Y,Z}:

If third preference indicator=X, the effect of interference is ignored.

If third preference indicator=Y, the effect of reduced spectralefficiency experienced by an MU-Paired user due to MU-MIMO interferencecan be determined as follows:

As an alternative, if a user k is getting an MU-MIMO paired allocationof P PRBs obtains an effective MU-MIMO spectral efficiency E_(k) on theP PRBs of the MU-MIMO allocation, but would have obtained a spectralefficiency of F_(k) if it was not MU-paired with other users, then setsecond adjustment factor equal to (E_(k)/F_(k)). Typically, E_(k)<F_(k),due to the increased interference from MU-MIMO pairing, that is, anMU-MIMO paired user would suffer some loss in spectral efficiencyrelative to an SU-MIMO transmission to that user without MU-MIMO. So(E_(k)/F_(k)) is a measure of the reduction in spectral efficiency forthat user due to MU-MIMO interference, and effectively, the resourcesconsumed by the user should be reduced by this factor.

As another alternative, if a user k is getting allocated M_(k) bits(e.g. transport block size of Bk) on the P PRBs due to MU-MIMO, butwould have been allocated S_(k) bits on the same PRBs if the same PRBshad been given only to that user (i.e. SU-MIMO allocation), then thesecond adjustment factor is set to M_(k)/S_(k).

If third preference indicator=Z, then Z indicates that the rules ofindicator value X should be applied if all users are of the same slice,whereas the rules of indicator value Y should be applied if the usersare of different slices.

The gNB L2-PS is configured to determine a third adjustment factor,based on second preference indicator, which indicates the manner ofcounting resources towards slice quota when resources have beenallocated in MU-MIMO-pairing fashion to multiple users of a slice.Typically, this adjustment factor is set per slice.

As an example, the second preference indicator may take values {A, B,C}. Assuming more than one N users of a given slice are allocated thesame set of P PRBs by MU-MIMO in a given slot:

If the second preference indicator=A, the third adjustment factor forthe slice is set to N.

If the second preference indicator=B, third adjustment factor for theslice is set to 1.

If the second preference indicator=C, third adjustment factor for theslice is set to min(2,N).

Further, the gNB L2-PS may be configured to, using the second and thirdadjustment factors, to determine an adjusted resource consumption of aslice, and further using the adjusted resource consumption of the sliceto determine an adjusted slice prioritization weight to be used insubsequent MU-pairing and resource allocation.

For example, determine adjusted slice prioritization weight W for aslice to be used in subsequent pairing and resource allocation as

$\begin{matrix}{{{{weight}W} = {P^{*}{third}{adjustment}}}{{{{factor}({slice})}^{*}\frac{1}{K}{\sum_{{i = 1},{\ldots K}}\left( {{second}{adjustment}{{factor}(i)}} \right)}},}} & \left( {{Eq}.1} \right)\end{matrix}$

where K is the number of terminal devices in a slice and P is the numberof allocated resource blocks.

Returning to FIG. 5 , in post scheduling 508, adjusted per-sliceresource consumption is determined taking into account the loss inspectral efficiency (second adjustment factor, based on the thirdpreference indicator) and whether MU-MINO users were from the same ofdifferent slices (third adjustment factor, based on second preferenceindicator).

FIG. 6 illustrates as embodiment. The gNB may comprise an inner loop 600and an outer loop 602. In each slot in the inner sloop 600, gNB L2-PSscheduler performs MU-pairing decisions and resource allocation anddetermines the (adjusted) amount of resources consumed by each slice.

The outer loop 602 carries out slice prioritization weight update on aslower time scale. The time scale may be, for example, of the order of100 slots. This interval may be referred to as ‘control period’, whereslice priority weights are determined based on comparing (adjusted)slice consumption to quota. The per-slice PRB usage from the inner loopabove is fed 604 to outer loop. After every ‘control period’determination of slice prioritization weight over the next ‘controlperiod’ is sent 606 to inner loop.

Outer loop receives preference indicators 608 and reports 610 metrics toMUSPC.

In an embodiment, the adjusted slice prioritization weight may becalculated as follows: If the adjusted resources consumed by a slice inslot t are R(t), where adjusted resource consumption is determined usingsecond and third adjustment factors, a time-average A_(avg)(t) of R(t)over a suitable time scale (such as sliding window average orexponential moving average, for example) may be calculated. If A_(min)is the minimum guaranteed resource quota and A_(max) is the maximumallowed resource quota, the adjusted slice prioritization weight w ofthe slice may be calculated as:

w=W*max(A _(max) −A _(avg),0)/(A _(max) −A _(min)), if A _(avg) >=A_(min),  (Eq.2)

-   -   w=W otherwise.        where W is from Eq.1.

This adjusted slice prioritization weight may be then used in subsequentresource allocation and MU-pairing decisions, together with the firstadjustment factor 1 as described above.

In an embodiment, the metrics 610 reported to MUSPC may comprisefollowing:

-   -   Frequency with which terminal devices of a given slice are        paired with terminal devices of the same slice or other terminal        devices of other slices.    -   Amount of interference between terminal devices of a given slice        and between terminal devices of a given slice with terminal        devices of other slices.    -   Amount by which quota of a slice was adjusted due to        interference from MU-paired allocations.    -   Amount by which consumed resources of a slice were adjusted due        to MU-paired allocations.

In an embodiment, the MUSPC may adjust and communicate first, second andthird preference indicators back to gNB. FIG. 7 illustrates thisembodiment.

In step 700, the MUSPC apparatus is configured to receive metrics fromgNB.

In step 702, the MUSPC apparatus is configured to determine, based onthe received metrics, if the preference indicators need updating. Eachindictor may be determined separately. If not, the process ends.

In step 704, the MUSPC apparatus is configured to determine, based onthe received metrics, update the preference indicators.

In step 706, the MUSPC apparatus is configured to send updatedpreference indicators to gNB.

As mentioned, the MUSPC may communicate with a network element 400 suchas an Operator Network Management System, ONAP, or a tenant portal. Thenetwork element provides the possibility to manage network and services.Is also responsible for taking decisions regarding change of preferencesand/or service level agreements, SLAs, for tenants.

In an embodiment, the network element may perform analysis on how wellthe slice quotas are working with the current MU-pairing preferences andother overall key parameters. Based on the analysis and the dynamics ofconstantly changing terminal device interaction with cells (under thegiven circumstances), it may decide to modify the preferences/SLAs.

In an embodiment, the network element may receive updates on the currentperformance of slices in relation to slice quotas, requests to changepreferences if necessary and overall performance of cell (KPIs) underthe given SLAs and preferences.

In an embodiment, the network element may send policy instructions ofoperator and/or tenant preferences, such as preference for MU-pairingusers of a given slice with users of the same slice, or users of adifferent slices, preference of how MU-MIMO-pairing-allocated resourcesshould count towards slice quota and preference of whether slices shouldbe given credit towards quota based on interference arising fromMU-MIMO-paired allocations.

The proposed solution reduces uncertainty in the presence of MU-MIMO andensures more predictable slice performance and quality of service,ensures fulfilment of SLAs, avoids penalties for operators, and providesgreater satisfaction for tenants.

FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment. The figure illustrates a simplifiedexample of an apparatus or network element applying embodiments of theinvention. In some embodiments, the apparatus may be a network elementor a part of a network element. In some embodiments, the apparatus maycomprise several network entities connected to each other. In anembodiment, the apparatus is a MU-aware Slice Policy Controller or MUSPC406.

It should be understood that the apparatus is depicted herein as anexample illustrating some embodiments. It is apparent to a personskilled in the art that the apparatus may also comprise other functionsand/or structures and not all described functions and structures arerequired. Although the apparatus has been depicted as one entity,different modules and memory may be implemented in one or more physicalor logical entities.

The apparatus 406 of the example includes a control circuitry 800configured to control at least part of the operation of the apparatus.

The apparatus may comprise a memory 802 for storing data. Furthermore,the memory may store software 804 executable by the control circuitry800. The memory may be integrated in the control circuitry.

The apparatus further comprises one or more interface circuitries 806configured to connect the apparatus to other devices and networkelements of the radio access network. The interface may provide a wiredor wireless connection.

In an embodiment, the software 804 may comprise a computer programcomprising program code means adapted to cause the control circuitry 800of the apparatus to realise at least some of the embodiments describedabove.

FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrates an embodiment. The figures illustrates asimplified example of an apparatus or network element applyingembodiments of the invention. In some embodiments, the apparatus may bea network element or a part of a network element. In some embodiments,the apparatus may comprise several network entities connected to eachother. In an embodiment, the apparatus is a gNB 408.

It should be understood that the apparatus is depicted herein as anexample illustrating some embodiments. It is apparent to a personskilled in the art that the apparatus may also comprise other functionsand/or structures and not all described functions and structures arerequired. Although the apparatus has been depicted as one entity,different modules and memory may be implemented in one or more physicalor logical entities.

The apparatus 408 of the example includes a control circuitry 900configured to control at least part of the operation of the apparatus.

The apparatus may comprise a memory 902 for storing data. Furthermore,the memory may store software 904 executable by the control circuitry900. The memory may be integrated in the control circuitry.

The apparatus further comprises one or more interface circuitries 906,908 configured to connect the apparatus to other devices and networkelements of the radio access network. An interface 906 may provide awired or wireless connection. An interface 908 may provide a wirelessconnection to terminal devices served by the apparatus.

In an embodiment, the software 904 may comprise a computer programcomprising program code means adapted to cause the control circuitry 900of the apparatus to realise at least some of the embodiments describedabove.

In an embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9B, at least some of thefunctionalities of the apparatus of FIG. 9B may be shared between twophysically separate devices, forming one operational entity. Therefore,the apparatus may be seen to depict the operational entity comprisingone or more physically separate devices for executing at least some ofthe described processes. Thus, the apparatus of FIG. 9B, utilizing suchshared architecture, may comprise a remote control unit RCU 920, such asa host computer or a server computer, operatively coupled (e.g. via awireless or wired network) to a remote distributed unit RDU 922 locatedin the base station. In an embodiment, at least some of the describedprocesses may be performed by the RCU 920. In an embodiment, theexecution of at least some of the described processes may be sharedamong the RDU 922 and the RCU 920.

In an embodiment, the RCU 920 may generate a virtual network throughwhich the RCU 920 communicates with the RDU 922. In general, virtualnetworking may involve a process of combining hardware and softwarenetwork resources and network functionality into a single,software-based administrative entity, a virtual network. Networkvirtualization may involve platform virtualization, often combined withresource virtualization. Network virtualization may be categorized asexternal virtual networking which combines many networks, or parts ofnetworks, into the server computer or the host computer (e.g. to theRCU). External network virtualization is targeted to optimized networksharing. Another category is internal virtual networking which providesnetwork-like functionality to the software containers on a singlesystem. Virtual networking may also be used for testing the terminaldevice.

In an embodiment, the virtual network may provide flexible distributionof operations between the RDU and the RCU. In practice, any digitalsignal processing task may be performed in either the RDU or the RCU andthe boundary where the responsibility is shifted between the RDU and theRCU may be selected according to implementation.

The steps and related functions described in the above and attachedfigures are in no absolute chronological order, and some of the stepsmay be performed simultaneously or in an order differing from the givenone. Other functions can also be executed between the steps or withinthe steps. Some of the steps can also be left out or replaced with acorresponding step.

The apparatuses or controllers able to perform the above-described stepsmay be implemented as an electronic digital computer, processing systemor a circuitry which may comprise a working memory (random accessmemory, RAM), a central processing unit (CPU), and a system clock. TheCPU may comprise a set of registers, an arithmetic logic unit, and acontroller. The processing system, controller or the circuitry iscontrolled by a sequence of program instructions transferred to the CPUfrom the RAM. The controller may contain a number of microinstructionsfor basic operations. The implementation of microinstructions may varydepending on the CPU design. The program instructions may be coded by aprogramming language, which may be a high-level programming language,such as C, Java, etc., or a low-level programming language, such as amachine language, or an assembler. The electronic digital computer mayalso have an operating system, which may provide system services to acomputer program written with the program instructions.

As used in this application, the term ‘circuitry’ refers to all of thefollowing: (a) hardware-only circuit implementations, such asimplementations in only analog and/or digital circuitry, and (b)combinations of circuits and software (and/or firmware), such as (asapplicable): (i) a combination of processor(s) or (ii) portions ofprocessor(s)/software including digital signal processor(s), software,and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus to performvarious functions, and (c) circuits, such as a microprocessor(s) or aportion of a microprocessor(s), that require software or firmware foroperation, even if the software or firmware is not physically present.

This definition of ‘circuitry’ applies to all uses of this term in thisapplication. As a further example, as used in this application, the term‘circuitry’ would also cover an implementation of merely a processor (ormultiple processors) or a portion of a processor and its (or their)accompanying software and/or firmware. The term ‘circuitry’ would alsocover, for example and if applicable to the particular element, abaseband integrated circuit or applications processor integrated circuitfor a mobile phone or a similar integrated circuit in a server, acellular network device, or another network device.

An embodiment provides a computer program embodied on a distributionmedium, comprising program instructions which, when loaded into anelectronic apparatus, are configured to control the apparatus to executethe embodiments described above.

The computer program may be in source code form, object code form, or insome intermediate form, and it may be stored in some sort of carrier,which may be any entity or device capable of carrying the program. Suchcarriers include a record medium, computer memory, read-only memory, anda software distribution package, for example. Depending on theprocessing power needed, the computer program may be executed in asingle electronic digital computer or it may be distributed amongst anumber of computers.

The apparatus may also be implemented as one or more integratedcircuits, such as application-specific integrated circuits, ASIC. Otherhardware embodiments are also feasible, such as a circuit built ofseparate logic components. A hybrid of these different implementationsis also feasible. When selecting the method of implementation, a personskilled in the art will consider the requirements set for the size andpower consumption of the apparatus, the necessary processing capacity,production costs, and production volumes, for example.

An embodiment provides an apparatus comprising means for receiving fromnetwork instructions of how to control multi-user multiple inputmultiple output connections maintained by one or more radio accessnodes, the connections utilising one or more slices and means forcontrolling one or more radio access nodes to perform, based at least inpart on the received network instructions, multi-user pairing ofterminal devices of the same or different slices, and determine, basedat least in part on the received network instructions, slice-based quotataking multi-user pairing and interference arising from pairedallocations into account.

An embodiment provides an apparatus comprising means for receiving, froma network apparatus, instructions of how to control multi-user multipleinput multiple output connections maintained by the apparatus theconnections utilising one or more slices; means for determining, basedon the received instructions, a first adjustment factor indicating howto perform multi-user pairing for terminal devices from a same ofdifferent slice; means for determining, based on the first adjustmentfactor and a slice prioritization weight, multi-user pairing andresource allocation for terminal devices; means for determining, basedon the received instructions, a second adjustment factor to resourcescounted as consumed by a slice, the factor indicating how to takeinterference between terminal devices into account; means fordetermining, based on the received instructions and the secondadjustment factor, a third adjustment factor indicating how to countresources towards slice quota; means for determining the number ofresources consumed by a slice based on the number of allocated resourcesand second and third adjustment factors; means for determining, based onthe determined number of resources, slice prioritization weight to beused in subsequent pairing and resource determination; and means fordetermining and transmitting a report to network regarding pairing,resources and interference.

It will be obvious to a person skilled in the art that, as thetechnology advances, the inventive concept can be implemented in variousways. The invention and its embodiments are not limited to the examplesdescribed above but may vary within the scope of the claims.

1. An apparatus in a radio access network, the apparatus comprising: atleast one processor; and at least one memory including computer programcode, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code areconfigured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus atleast to: receive, from a network apparatus, instructions of how tocontrol multi-user multiple input multiple output connections maintainedby the apparatus the connections utilizing one or more slices;determine, based on the received instructions, a first adjustment factorindicating how to perform multi-user pairing for terminal devices from asame of different slice; determine, based on the first adjustment factorand a slice prioritization weight, multi-user pairing and resourceallocation for terminal devices; determine, based on the receivedinstructions, a second adjustment factor to resources counted asconsumed by a slice, the second adjustment factor indicating how to takeinterference between terminal devices into account, and the secondadjustment factor is determined per terminal device; determine, based onthe received instructions and the second adjustment factor, a thirdadjustment factor indicating how to count resources towards slice quota;determine the number of resources consumed by a slice based on thenumber of allocated resources and second and third adjustment factors;determine, based on the determined number of resources, sliceprioritization weight to be used in subsequent pairing and resourcedetermination; determine and transmit a report to network regardingpairing, resources and interference; and determine slice prioritizationweight for a slice to be used in subsequent pairing and resourceallocation as:${{weight} = {P^{*}{third}{adjustment}{{factor}({slice})}^{*}\frac{1}{K}{\sum_{{i = 1},{\ldots K}}\left( {{second}{adjustment}{{factor}(i)}} \right)}}},$where K is the number of terminal devices in a slice and P is the numberof allocated resource blocks.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, the at leastone memory and the computer program code configured to, with the atleast one processor, cause the apparatus further to determine the thirdadjustment factor per slice.
 3. A method, comprising: receiving, from anetwork apparatus, instructions of how to control multi-user multipleinput multiple output connections maintained by the apparatus theconnections utilizing one or more slices; determining, based on thereceived instructions, a first adjustment factor indicating how toperform multi-user pairing for terminal devices from a same of differentslice; determining, based on the first adjustment factor and a sliceprioritization weight, multi-user pairing and resource allocation forterminal devices; determining, based on the received instructions, asecond adjustment factor to resources counted as consumed by a slice,the second adjustment factor indicating how to take interference betweenterminal devices into account, and the second adjustment factor isdetermined per terminal device; determining, based on the receivedinstructions and the second adjustment factor, a third adjustment factorindicating how to count resources towards slice quota; determining thenumber of resources consumed by a slice based on the number of allocatedresources and second and third adjustment factors; determining, based onthe determined number of resources, slice prioritization weight to beused in subsequent pairing and resource determination; determining andtransmitting a report to network regarding pairing, resources andinterference; and determining slice prioritization weight for a slice tobe used in subsequent pairing and resource allocation as:${{weight} = {P^{*}{third}{adjustment}{{factor}({slice})}^{*}\frac{1}{K}{\sum_{{i = 1},{\ldots K}}\left( {{second}{adjustment}{{factor}(i)}} \right)}}},$where K is the number of terminal devices in a slice and P is the numberof allocated resource blocks.
 4. A computer program embodied on anon-transitory computer-readable medium, the computer program comprisinginstructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least: receiving,from a network apparatus, instructions of how to control multi-usermultiple input multiple output connections maintained by the apparatusthe connections utilizing one or more slices; determining, based on thereceived instructions, a first adjustment factor indicating how toperform multi-user pairing for terminal devices from a same of differentslice; determining, based on the first adjustment factor and a sliceprioritization weight, multi-user pairing and resource allocation forterminal devices; determining, based on the received instructions, asecond adjustment factor to resources counted as consumed by a slice,the second adjustment factor indicating how to take interference betweenterminal devices into account, and the second adjustment factor isdetermined per terminal device; determining, based on the receivedinstructions and the second adjustment factor, a third adjustment factorindicating how to count resources towards slice quota; determining thenumber of resources consumed by a slice based on the number of allocatedresources and second and third adjustment factors; determining, based onthe determined number of resources, slice prioritization weight to beused in subsequent pairing and resource determination; determining andtransmitting a report to network regarding pairing, resources andinterference; and determining slice prioritization weight for a slice tobe used in subsequent pairing and resource allocation as:${{weight} = {P^{*}{third}{adjustment}{{factor}({slice})}^{*}\frac{1}{K}{\sum_{{i = 1},{\ldots K}}\left( {{second}{adjustment}{{factor}(i)}} \right)}}},$where K is the number of terminal devices in a slice and P is the numberof allocated resource blocks.